Sometimes the News is Good

First, though I didn’t blog about it, I was aware of the whole Glamour magazine editor calls natural hairstyles “political” and “totally so dumb!” Okay, I’m paraphrasing. People were pissed, blogs were snarky, and there were even some efforts to identify said editor. Finally, the Editor-in-Chief of Glamour released a statement:

I read your post about a Glamour editor’s comments on hairstyles for work, and I’d like to share with you our thoughts. First, we regret the comments were made. The employee (not a beauty editor) spoke to a small group of lawyers at a private luncheon without her supervisor’s knowledge or approval, and her comment — that Afros are not work appropriate — does not represent Glamour’s point of view.

Secondly, immediately upon learning of it, we sought to rectify the situation. The editor has been dealt with in a very serious manner, and the entire staff has been reminded of the magazine’s policies and procedures for making public appearances.

Glamour is proud of its diverse readership and celebrates the beauty of ALL women. We have responded directly and openly with readers to assure them of this fact. We have also apologized to the law firm, and we extend the same apology to you.

Cindi Leive,
Editor-in-Chief of Glamour

To which I can only say: Thank you, Ms. Leive. That was the exact right thing to say.

This second one has been all over the blogosphere for the past few days. But since I posted about the Jena Six, it’s only fair to post the good news, too.

A state appeals court Friday tossed out the aggravated battery conviction that could have sent a black teenager to prison for 15 years in last year’s beating of a white classmate in the racially tense Louisiana town of Jena.

Mychal Bell, who was 16 at the time of the December beating, should not have been tried as an adult on the battery charge, the state Third Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles ruled.
…
“It means that at the present time all charges are dismissed,” Attorney Louis Scott said. “But we don’t know what approach the prosecution is going to take — whether they will re-charge him, where he would have to be subjected to bail all over again or not.

This is a step in the right direction, but we shouldn’t get complacent. We have to keep fighting and speaking and supporting. Don’t forget, there will be a March on Jena September 20 in Louisiana. It’s lead by the NAACP and there are buses going down from different parts of the country if you’re able to attend. If anyone has further, specific info on that, drop it in the comments.

And there’s this, from the ACLU’s web site, that’s especially troubling: “Recently, the ACLU of Louisiana filed an “open records request” in Louisiana seeking all arrest and incident reports, broken down by race, for LaSalle Parish, which includes the town of Jena. The request also seeks records pertaining to Jena High School specifically, including documents listing the frequency of law enforcement visits to the school and charges issued to its students. Instead of following the standard procedure of turning over the appropriate materials, District Attorney Walters took the extraordinary step of suing the ACLU of Louisiana in state court so he would not have to comply with the order. The ACLU of Louisiana filed a motion to move the issue to federal court, where it is currently pending.”

Hotep Sista! It is good news about the conviction being overturned. The Sept 20th protest is still taking place. Those of us that cannot be in Jena, LA on Thursday are encouraged to WEAR ALL BLACK on that day.

I do appreciate the fact that the editor-in-chief e-mailed many of the blogs that commented on this. However, I still believe that there’s a lot to be desired in the fashion industry when it comes to its treatment of people who don’t fit into a certain mold.

A commentor on another blog suggested that as pettance(sp?), Glamour should do a fashion spread on Black hair, with an emphasis on natural styles.

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Re: Jena 6

One battle has been won, but the war is far from over.

I really wish I could be there on the 20th, but my supervisor has been a real bitch lately about verifying leave time. >:P